Sudden death

[Adnyl68]

I am hoping that someone can tell me if they have ever experienced the awful thing that happened to my bunny yesterday. My bunny had what appeared to be GI stasis . He stopped eating pellets and only ate small amounts of hay, but would quickly eat any green leafy lettuce I gave him. The reason I thought he had GI stasis was because he stopped pooing and peeing. He also would only drink out of a bowl not the bottle hanging from the side of his cage. And of course the vet confirmed my suspicion.

I took him to the vet, they gave me the usual meds (which he had successfully taken before) and after two days his poo started getting better and he started eating more. Then on Friday morning I took him out of his cage, gave him his meds and put him back. He was fine and energetic.

I was upstairs (the cage is downstairs) and all of the sudden out of nowhere I heard the biggest banging noise…it sounded like someone was trying to break into the house, or a bunch of things were falling off the shelves in the garage. I ran downstairs and didn’t see anything in the garage. When I looked in my buns cage he was flat on his back and gasping for air. It was horrible. I felt so helpless. I picked him up, his whole body was limp and his breathing was getting more shallow. I put him in his carrier and jumped in the car and took him straight to the vet, but by the time I got him there he was dead.

I had Beau for 8 years. I adopted him so I’m not sure how old he was but he didn’t seem old at all, always full of energy. I just don’t know what happened??!

I’m assuming the loud banging was him in the cage. The vet was shocked too as I had just been there with him and he got a clean bill of health. I asked the vet if I could have over medicated the buns and he assured me that I could have given ten times the dose and not killed my buns. The vet said he thinks he had a seizure. Does this really happen a seizure out of the blue, for no reason? And so violent that I thought the house was caving in! He never had one before. I’m just so sad and so confused.
I miss him so much
I just want to know if anyone else ever experienced something like this.

[Luna]

I’m so sorry about your bun. I agree that the loud crashing noise sounds like he had a heart attack/seizure of some sort. These things do seem to happen out of the blue sometimes , but there is usually a reason – ie. genetics, stress, illness (I don’t think the stasis had anything to do with it). Unfortunately, the only way to truly know is a necropsy, though the results are often inconclusive.

Binky free Beau

[Adam]

I’m so sorry. My boy died less than three months ago. He was only 2 and a half. Since then I’ve seen so many stories of male rabbits dying suddenly around that age. Stroke and heart attacks are fairly common I guess.

[Manda]

I am so sorry for your loss Adam. I too know how this feels….sometimes our buns wait for us to go and I believe that noise was made so you could be aware that your buns was getting ready to leave. I had a 6 year old lop named Thumper and one day out of the blue he was not himself, he would eat banana though but nothing else and I took him to the vets who also prescribed bacteria meds incase he had something and he ended up passing away on my bed and it was horrible. I still don’t know what it was that killed him. I also had Sophia a lionhead who I never felt was really “right” to begin with and she ended up getting a neurological disease where she couldnt funtion by the time she was a year old and I tried everything to save her and she lasted a week and the same thing happened- I watched her on a nanny cam to monitor her and I had just come home from work and went upstairs to check on her( I had another bun named Cinni who was perfectly fine) and it was as if she was waiting for me- she had what I thought was a seizure- she yelped and then by the time I had her wrapped in a towel to rush to the vets she was gone.

Please know that you did you do everything a good rabbit owner could do and that 8 years is great for a rabbit. Sometimes it is luck of the draw and sometimes there are other factors such as genetics/environment ect. but it sounds like you did everything you could and your bun did not have to pass alone and I am sure he is grateful to you for that. xo

Binky free Beau

[Adnyl68]

To all of you who answered…my sincere thanks and condolences . It sounds like we all have experienced the loss of our bunny friends. Each day that passes I am learning to live with the idea that Beau is gone. Grief is such a hard thing…and something that I guess we try not to think about until we are forced to. You have all helped me wrap my head around this and not be so hard on myself in wondering if I could have acted any differently given the circumstances. This truly is a supportive community and I thank you for taking the time to reply. ??❤️❤️

[Manda]

We all have- it is the unfortunate and crappy part of being a pet- we unfortunately have to say goodbye at some point. Just be grateful for the time you had with Beau and it will get easier and easier. He was a lucky bun and there is nothing to feel bad about other than missing your bun friend and whether we choose to believe or not- they are in a wonderful place watching over us and binkying and enjoying all the veggies they could want and maybe we will be lucky enough to see them again one day all the best <3

[Author]

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